Father pleads guilty in child's death

Dowagiac man to be sentenced for involuntary manslaughter

Dowagiac man to be sentenced for involuntary manslaughter

October 03, 2006

CASSOPOLIS -- A 26-year-old Dowagiac man whose infant son drowned this summer when he was left alone in a bathtub pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death. While Matthew Lee Prickett was bathing his 9-month-old son, Matthew James Prickett, on July 27, he left the child alone in the tub for several minutes while he attended to other matters in the house in the 100 block of Sheldon Street. He took the boy to Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital in Dowagiac where he was pronounced dead. As a result of Prickett's plea, authorities agreed to dismiss a two-year felony charge of child abuse fourth degree and not pursue any other charges arising from this incident against him. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 3 in Cass County Circuit Court.